11 Nov 2024
The island is one of three new areas to be added to the restricted zone after new cases were detected.
Allister Webb
Job Title
Image © Kyaw Thiha / Adobe Stock
Three new areas have been added to the bluetongue restricted zone in England following confirmation of new infections, including the first reported on the Isle of Wight.
The island, together with parts of Oxfordshire and North Yorkshire, was put under restrictions in an update issued by Defra and the APHA on Friday evening, 8 November.
The agencies said new infections had been detected on the island as well as close to the Buckinghamshire-Oxfordshire border and the boundary between North Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire.
They added that the zone was extended “in accordance with our policy of seeking to contain and slow the spread of disease”.
Elsewhere, new cases have also been confirmed in Norfolk and Buckinghamshire, following pre-movement and surveillance testing respectively.
The latest developments mean the overall number of cases confirmed since the present outbreak began in late August now stands at 157.
The figure includes two cases in Wales that were linked to the movement of animals from affected areas.
A total of 25 counties and administrative areas are now at least partly affected by the restricted zone, which now stretches from the Isle of Wight to the southern edge of the North York Moors National Park.
